I'm getting excited - we're only a few week away from the ZR-1 Gathering, being held on May 12 – 14, 2016 at the National Corvette Museum in Bowling Green, KY.
This year marks the 20th anniversary of the Corvette Grand Sport, and we will have many joint Grand Sport and ZR-1 Net Registry events throughout the weekend.
The Gathering begins with a beer and pizza social on Wednesday May 11, 2016 at the Holiday Inn University Plaza atrium. Socialize with old friends, meet new ones and match faces with names you know. On Thursday, we will be conducting a combination of seminars at the NCM, mixed with some fun road cruises. The NCM MotorSports Park staff will introduce us to their track, and provide us with some insight on its design and keys to navigating it. We’ll also look for a glimpse as to the future development of this first class complex.
Seminars will be held on high performance driving, applicable not only to the track but to everyday driving. The evening will be open for dinner at your choice of local establishments, followed by hours of bench racing in the parking lot.
On Friday, we’ll try to apply some of the discussion on high performance driving at the NCM MotorSports Park. Similar to last year, there will be Touring Laps which include four laps in your own car at average highway speeds. Helmets are not required and passengers are welcome—Cost: $45. After noon, we’ll change up the track for TrackX: An autocross-type environment with coned gates and dedicated start and finish lines on the track. Runs are not timed, and speeds can approach 100 mph. Hot laps, where you are the passenger with a professional driver behind the wheel, may be available pending driver availability. Last year, our members were wowed by a break-neck experience with John Heinricy at the wheel. For those not interested in one or both track events, the NCM will conduct morning and afternoon drives through the area. In addition, tours of the Bowling Green Corvette Assembly Plant will be available.
Saturday begins with a presentation about our National Corvette Museum, followed by the famous, fun, “Roller Coaster” road tour through the countryside. Later that afternoon, we have planned for a variety of powertrain presentations. Saturday night will close the event with our Banquet held under the newly renovated spire at the NCM where Fred Gallasch is scheduled to be our guest speaker.
If you have any question regarding the fun we had last year at the Gathering, I’ve attached two links for your viewing enjoyment. I was able to run at least a dozen of the ‘touring’ laps as well as at least a dozen laps of TrackX. The staffs of the NCM and Motorsports Park track are exceptional and want to ensure we enjoy our time at the Gathering. I hope to see you there!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yZHjEcn1kic
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96ZaqBtriIA
